Out of her league
by Ladneknamtip
Summary: High School AU. Alex Vause is popular, she reeks of sex appeal and has worked her way through half of the female student body. Piper Chapman is unpopular and that's how she likes it. When Alex Vause and Piper Chapman's world collide, sparks fly and they're both making changes for the better. Can Alex quit her player days? Can Piper be popular? Only time will tell. MRated to be safe
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This is something I've wanted to write for a while I was just figuring out exactly how I wanted to do it. If you follow any of my other stories I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'm a bit stuck with those fics so any suggestions are completely welcome via reviews or pm.**

 **Anyway! I hope you enjoy this. M rated just to be safe. Be aware of adult themes and language.**

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 **Alex Vause.** 17, Popular and beautiful with tattoos and a grin that made you melt. Alex Vause was the by far the coolest kid in the entire school.

 **Piper Chapman.** 16, unpopular. Purposefully, average and self proclaimed nerd. Piper Chapman, was a nobody, just the way she liked it.

 **Alex Vause** rode a Kawasaki Ninja. **Piper Chapman** drove a beat up hand-me-down Plymouth Duster.

 **Alex Vause** had tattoos and reeked of sex appeal and **Piper Chapman** had a netflix membership and 'a problem socialising' according to her parents.

The point being, they were polar opposites.

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She opens the door into the big, empty lecture theatre. It is Monday night and the room is dimly lit apart from the old fashioned projector ticking forward at the front displaying nothing. "Hello?" She calls out to the seemingly empty room. "Is this where I come for AV club? I saw the flier?" Piper closes the door gently behind her and starts down the isle. Then between the seats near the front a figure emerges from where they had been laying invisible to her moments previously. "Hey!" Piper would recognise that husky voice anywhere, she imagined that if the adjective 'sexy' could be described as a sound it would in fact sound like this one very specific voice. The voice of Alex Vause. Despite her cheerful tone she looks surprised by the company. "Oh sorry!" Piper rushes quickly, "I thought this was AV club." _Dear god!_ Her internal monologue screamed. She was talking to the most popular, most gorgeous, most very intimidating (in a way out of my league sort of way), girl in school. She stumbled and blushed thankful of the dim lighting to mask her embarrassment. _Come on Piper!_ The internal monologue called again. _You're a normal human being, attractive and capable of social interaction, ACT IT._ Alex pulls her signature grin with one eye brow raised with mischief laced underneath. "AV Club? Alex Vause right here, gorgeous." She winks and starts up the steps toward Piper. Having the desired effect Piper melts a bit before snapping herself out of it, Alex had worked her way through half of the female student body with that wink. "Sorry, Audio Visual sounds much more exciting." She throws her a smirk of her own pleased by the slight shock that crosses Alex's face which is quickly replaced by something else.

Recognition. She liked a challenge. Here was a girl, What was her name again? She was the one that studied in the back booth in the library. The librarians loved her. Polly? No, that's the winey friend. Piper. Yes that's it. Piper Chapman. Probably the first girl she had thrown that wink at and not received a more than enthusiastic response to. Piper was gorgeous, she hadn't been lying. She was leggy and blonde, blue eyes you could get lost in and a great pair of tits. It was a shame she hid it all under the baggy clothes. She stopped Piper as she was about to leave by jogging up the isle to where she stood and lacing her fingers through hers. "Hey, don't leave. We can watch movies and you can pretend I'm not secretly a massive nerd, yeah?" Piper rolled her eyes and unlaces her hand, familiar with Alex Vause's charm, but starts back down the steps to find a seat. Alex quickly sets up the film and takes her seat next to Piper, this was going to be fun.

* * *

 _ **2 hours later.**_

"Once again Jennifer Lawrence doesn't fail to disappoint!" Piper loved Jennifer Lawrence, Alex on the other hand had enjoyed the two hours with Piper much more than the movie itself. "She's so hot right?" Alex played this move on all the girls she talked to, drop a female celebrity you know is attractive and see if they play it straight or not. If they were straight she'd back off, if they weren't they were fair game. "Ugh! I know right? She's so funny as well though, she's hot because she's so normal but also because she plays such strong characters, I mean…yeah." She laughs realising her tangent. So...not straight? Alex gave a small laugh.

She remembered Piper from Kindergarten. Piper had always been there in her peripherals, they'd gone to the same school basically the entire time and she was fairly certain Piper only lived a few streets over from her. Piper was the youngest in the year and Alex the eldest. Alex was popular and Piper kept to herself the majority of the time. They existed in different orbits more or less. "Why are you so quiet?" Alex asks as the projector returns to its pointless ticking over. Piper gives a small smile. "I haven't found anyone worth talking to yet. I guess, I figured at a young age that I could probably have more intelligent conversations with myself than half the people that are in my classes so why waste time and effort?" Alex smiled, it made sense but it seemed lonely. "Maybe I could be worth talking to?" She flashes her signature grin and fidgets with her black square glasses. She runs her fingers through her hair and waits for Piper's reply. She'd only just started talking to her but she wasn't in any particular rush for it to stop. Piper had this sort of dry sarcasm and wit that she couldn't get enough of. She was intelligent and fierce in a way that other girls she'd talked to just weren't. Perhaps Piper was right about that observation. Piper picks up her bag and rearranges her big hoodie around herself as she stands ready to leave. "Maybe." She winks. And starts up the isle to leave.

"So I'll see you around?" Alex was painfully aware of how needy she felt right now. She didn't want to fail this challenge but more importantly she wanted to know more about the elusive Piper Chapman. She was used to girls falling at her feet and being popular and wanted. Piper confused everything she knew about making people like her. If she knew anything at that precise moment in time it was that she wanted to spend more time getting to know Piper Chapman.

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"I'm telling you Nick, that girl is different." Alex stirs her Starbucks absentmindedly. "You really think PIPER CHAPMAN, that library nerd, is the girl you'd change for. You're serious?" Nicky Nichols; batshit crazy, best friend to Alex Vause, ultimately one of the most sincere people alive, (whether that's good or bad, Alex was yet to decide) and a deeply caring person. So when her friend came to her to tell she had met a girl, she was not surprised. When she told her which girl, she was mildly amused. But then Alex had pulled out a show stopper. _"I could change for this girl."_ Nicky couldn't believe it. She had seen, _how many_ girls, come through Alex's Egyptian cotton bed sheets? None of them had ever even remotely raised this subject not even after several return trips when Alex was feeling bored. She'd spent at best three hours with the nerd and now she was all butterflies and cuddles. She actually felt a bit queasy. "You've never ever wanted to settle, why now?" Alex laughs at her friends melodrama. "Okay first off Nick, I'm only 17." "Come on Vause! You're almost 18 and you've slept with more women than most men do in there entire lives." Alex looks a bit proud at her friends acknowledgement.

"Seriously, you've seen me and Lorna, we've been together what, three years now? Are we happier than you are in peak season when you've got girls with legs taller than me and boobs bigger than baltimore with their arms wrapped around your neck hanging off of every word you're saying?" Alex laughs again, bemused by the accuracy of her type of girl. But again Piper was different. She drifts to the fore front of her mind. She was beautiful even in that big hoodie, she was the sort of girl that looked rocking without trying. She felt a bit like she would start drooling if she thought too hard about Piper with some effort behind her.

"She's different Nick, she keeps me on my toes. She intelligent, god knows I could use that from someone other than you. I'm not saying I'm in love. I'm saying I've found my next challenge. Piper Chapman is a babe, you just can't see it yet."

In the booth over Polly Harper rises quietly from her seat, gathering her books together hurriedly, shoving them in her bag and exits the shop.

* * *

"I'm just telling you what I heard Piper. DITCH THE HOODIE! ALEX **FUCKING** VAUSE, wants to date you. I'm not talking about being another notch on the head board. I heard the phrase "Change for this girl" at least 8 times. You're telling me you don't even want to see?" Piper was ingesting all the information slowly. She knew she'd had a good time with Alex yesterday, there was some very obvious flirting going on through out the film, but she had just assumed Alex was like this with every girl. I mean, she didn't believe in changing who she was to please someone else but using her assets, already existing, to her advantage? That couldn't hurt.

The problem Piper had was not with the way she looks. Piper had always been pretty, an attractive baby through to eleven when puberty struck her with the beauty stick earlier than everyone else. Piper Chapman had always been a babe. She remembered walking into school after that summer holiday. Everyone always looks different, but quiet and with only a few select friends by her own choice Piper was confused when suddenly everyone wanted to be her friend. Girls wanted to be in her group now and boys, were just confused because here was a girl who definitely did not have cooties. That's when the baggy clothes and hoodies started, these people were idiots. She didn't want to give them any reason to talk to her. And I guess, the clothes hadn't ever stopped. As far as school was concerned at least. Polly always said the weekend was a relief because Piper wore ' _human clothes'_.

Piper realises she had been lost in thought and hadn't actually replied to Polly yet who was waiting with a look of bemusement on her face. "YOU LIKE HER TOO!" Polly does a victory dance whilst Piper throws cushions at her.

"Help me find some _human clothes_ for tomorrow." Polly can't keep the grin from her face as she opens the door to Piper's walk in wardrobe.

* * *

By the time they were finished they had exchanged Piper's usual school outfit (Big purple hoodie, loose jeans and trainers) for something a bit more weekend Piper. Skinny jeans with at tight white tank tee and a fitted blazer. She paired it with some white converses and they stood in front of the mirror admiring their work. Polly sighs. "You're so hot when you make an effort." Piper raises an eyebrow at her best friend to which Polly throws up her hands in her own defence. She points to Piper's reflection. "You are."

Piper shrugs and laughs. She knows it true but it had never really concerned her. For the first time she was exciting about making an effort for school.

She knew for every conversation she had the next day there was a more intelligent conversation to be had with herself, 99% of the time. She had always found that. Until Alex Vause. The knock out, popular girl with the jet black hair and the sexy glasses (she laughed internally at herself. _Nothing sexier than impaired vision_ ), the intense eyeliner game and the rockabilly tattoos. She thinks briefly about actually fanning herself just thinking about Alex. Here was a girl capable of intelligent conversation. She had been shocked actually. Alex Vause had been something of a myth the majority of her school life. They existed in different worlds entirely and so it had been a bag of mixed truths when it came down to it. The charm was real but it turned out the bitchiness and manipulative streak had been complete falsities.

Tomorrow would be an interesting day.

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 **That's it will update soon! Reviews and feedback are always welcome and encouraged!**

 **Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Bit shorter this chapter but fluffy. Stay tuned for updates. Thank you for the reviews and support so far! So appreciated.**

 **Enjoy!**

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As the doors swung shut behind Piper the effect was immediate. Piper Chapman 2.0. People actually started as she walked down the hallway. She wore a smirk that tasted of success and knew half of the people watching her progression down the hallway though she was some sort of exchange student.

"Vause! Check out the new girl! I'm thinking you're gonna wanna piss on the lockers or something, mark you territory now, I have a feeling you'll want to when you see her." Nicky Nichols, the only girl Alex knew who could be excited, horny and vulgar at 9:25 in the morning. Alex pulled her books out of hr locker, "Pfft. I doubt it." She closed the locker door with her bag and let her her eyes find Nicky's 'new girl'. Typical. Legs up to her neck, a blonde bombshell with a great pair of tits and classic converse kicks. That's when her eyes met Piper's from across the hall. It's instant, magnetic and something clicks into place. She watched Piper's pupils dilate and wondered if hers were doing the same.

Piper felt her face get hotter as her eyes met Alex's she could see the lust on Alex's face from way over there, she knew the desired effect had been had. Alex Vause was hooked. And so was she.

A smirk found it's way onto Alex's face when she noticed Piper's flushed cheeks, she was glad she had that effect. Alex gave Nicky a friendly punch on the arm. " That's not a new girl you dick. i hate to say I told you so." Before Nicky could ask what the hell her best friend was talking about Alex had walked away, straight towards the hot new chick. "Loving the make over **Chapman**!" She emphasised her name mainly because she loves the way Piper's name sounds on her lips but also to make sure Nicky feels like an idiot.

Piper threw her a wink and Alex tried not to acknowledge the flutter in the pit of her stomach. So that's what that felt like. "I aim to please doll." And with that Piper walked away from her, giving Alex, intentionally, the opportunity to look at her arse. Alex couldn't resist and watched as Piper strutted away, her hips swaying, her arse looked killer in those jeans. Nicky called out to Alex, where she now stood alone, and much to her displeasure pulled her away from Piper's teasing exit, "Met you match Vause?" Alex threw a notebook playfully, and gave her the finger before heading to class, followed by Nicky's cackling laughter.

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She couldn't stop herself from searching the crowd for Piper's piercing blue eyes at lunch. It became an almost subconscious habit to find the new and improved Piper Chapman whenever Alex had a free moment. Alex is unsurprised to find the gorgeous girl of her admirations, surrounded by a crowd of people that Alex was sure Piper considered to be complete idiots, and was probably extremely uncomfortable about being surrounded by. "Chapman." There's that click again, the electricity in a look. Alex did nothing to prevent the butterflies awakened in her stomach. "Vause." Piper felt it too. That pulling sensation, the need and desire to be closer to Alex was almost unbearable, she shushed the butterflies and tried to act casual. Alex on the other hand basically melted because she loved the way her name sounded from Piper's mouth. She could just imagine it, _Piper wrapped in her bed sheets, tousled, sweaty sex hair, moaning it, over and over and over…Shit. Alex's cool was quickly dissipating and she screamed internally at herself. Don't lose your shit over one girl. How many girls have you been with? You need to put your moves on this girl like any other. Ready? Walk away casually. Don't look back. The game begins._

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For neither girl did Thursday night roll around quick enough. Still the lone attenders, (Alex had removed the remaining fliers), of the AV club, Alex bought take out with her and the pair sat eating noodles with chopsticks messily as a rom com played in the back ground. "So tell me something no one else knows?" Piper had been wanting to ask Alex so many questions all week, she'd never clicked with someone the way she had with Alex. "You already know I'm secretly a massive nerd, is that not enough?" Piper laughed and hit her arm playfully. "No seriously, tell me something." Alex thought briefly, she knew at the end of the day she would probably tell Piper anything she asked of her. "I have never been in love." Alex waited to see how Piper would react to this information. Piper gave a gentle smile. "Lets see if we can change that shall we?" Alex grins.

"Your turn love?" Piper is lost in quiet thought for a moment before she replies. "My friend Polly, you know the winey one? Painfully straight? She heard you and Nicky talking in Starbucks the other day. All this?" She indicated her made over self. "It was to get your attention." Alex grins her signature grin, which is then followed by a small laugh. "What?!" Piper smacks her arm playfully again. "What?" She crossed her arms stubbornly with a smile still covering her face. "It's just, you had my attention from the moment you walked in on Monday night. Damn, how has it only been three days, I feel like I've known you years." Piper finished her noodles before replying this time.

She gives a small nod and laced her fingers through Alex's in the same way Alex had that first night. "You make me feel…different. You made me want to be apart of everything just so I could be apart of something with you." Alex pushed a strand of hair from Piper's face, a blonde whisp that had snuck into her line of vision. They were completely different the two of them and yet so very similar. They new they both loved old movies and they both enjoyed attractive women. And Alex loved the way her hair looking startlingly black against Piper's shock of blonde. Alex loved her pale against Piper's tanned and love the sound of Piper's laugh colliding with her own. She grinned at their interlinked hands. She'd done a lot with a lot of different women but for the first time she was completely content with hand holding. This time it mattered, because Piper Chapman was eventually going to be her girl. She was certain of that now. She didn't know how or when but she was certain she could spend a long time holding this hand. "You make me feel different too. I like it. You have something on your face though Pipes." Pipes. That was new. Piper felt her face flush and the butterflies revamp at the sound of the nick name whilst trying to find whatever was on her face. Alex gave a small laugh at Piper's frustration. "Here let me get it. Hold still." Alex gently takes hold of Piper's chin with one hand a leans in. Making sure she can see Piper's forget-me-not blue eyes until the last second and then she closes her own grey stormy ones gently and presses her lips to Piper's the way she wanted to do all week. And at first, nothing. Oh shit! She'd completely misread the situation and now its all fu- Piper was kissing her back! Kissing her fiercely and passionately and now her fingers were tangled in Alex's hair and Alex was running her hands down her back. Piper bit her lip gently and Alex felt the shivers run down her back, faster than a cheetah, sending the butterflies into frenzy. Fireworks exploded in their chests as they desperately pulled each other closer.

Finally they came up for air. "Woah." They said in sync. A grin plastered Alex's face. "I got it." Confusion swept across Piper's face. "The something you had on your face, turned out it was just me." Piper rolls her eyes but laughs anyway.

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 **So that's chapter two. Let me know what you think and any suggestions I will be happy to take on board! Reviews are much appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! So this one is inspired by personal experience, so I hope you like it basically. The reviews are so encouraging and I thank you again for your continued support.**

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The next few weeks followed in a similar fashion. Piper's ever increasing popularity at school gave them more and more opportunities to be together as she climbed her way to the top of the food chain to where Alex stood waiting. Because Piper had yet to come out they couldn't publicly be a couple but they met every Monday and Thursday for AV Club and put on a movie, then they'd make out or talked about anything and everything before making out some more.

Alex was slowly but surely trying to convince Piper to come home with her to meet her Mom and siblings but Piper was holding fast to the inside of the closet door. "Come on, everyone at school has guessed we're seeing each other, when are you going to tell your parents you're gay Piper? You know they love you." Alex drew comforting circles with her thumb on the back of Piper's hand. Piper knew Alex wasn't trying to pressure her into coming out, she was just excited about introducing her to her Mom. Piper kisses Alex's cheek softly. "I'll talk to them, soon, I promise. You're so sweet. I just don't even know why I'm anxious. My parents ultimately will love me either way, but what if they hate homosexuality, it's not like that's even come up in conversation before. I just…I don't know. I'll talk to them soon. What happened when you came out?" Alex understands Piper's fear but she never faced her own. "I didn't come out. I just started bringing girls home and Mom never mentioned it and neither did my siblings." She shrugs "I didn't understand why I needed to announce that I would be bringing home a girl instead of a boy. I think my mom was just glad I wasn't going to get pregnant any time soon." She gives a small laugh. "I understand why you feel like you need to tell your parents though Pipes. I'm backing you 100% okay?" Piper leans in and kisses her again. "Thank you Alex."

* * *

"Mom, Dad? Can I talk to you for a second?" Bill and Carol Chapman exchanged a concerned look before they turned to face their daughter. Piper cleared her throat and tried to gather her thoughts for a moment before she dives in. "I want you to know that I will be bringing someone home to meet you. In the next few days. They're, um, really important to me and I really want you to like them."

Her parents nodded in sync, "What's their name sweetie?" Carol asked cheerfully. Piper was anxious and tense and ultimately terrified.

She cleared her throat again. "Alex Vause." Piper mumbled. A stern expression found it's way onto Bill's face somewhere between the beginning and end of Piper's mumble. "You're bringing home a boy?!" Piper shook her head, the internal monologue chimes in a quick pep talk. _Here it goes Piper. You can do this. Just tell them. They'll love you either way. Go on. Now. 3. 2. 1. Go._ "No it's actually a girl." It's exactly like the scene in Mean Girls where Kady says, "Word vomit. No actual vomit." She felt like she would either pass out or throw up. Or maybe both.

She watched her parents exchange another look and Piper buried her face in her hands dread filled her as she waited for the response.

"A girl?" Her Mom said it in a barely audible whisper. Piper gaves a small nod. She was already agonising over the pained expression on her father's face.

"You're gay?" Her Mom's question felts more like an accusation. She nodded again. Piper squeezed her eyes shut and waited. "You have no idea what you've done do you? What this will do to your Father? Piper Elizabeth Chapman, look at me right now." Piper meets her mothers eyes only to find them softened. "Thank you darling. You just got me $50! And your grandma $100 and CAL! GET YOUR DUMB ASS DOWN HERE. The main thing here is that I, I! Was right. Ha. Ha. Ha." Piper watched as her Mom gave her Dad the finger for the first time in her life as she pokes her tongue out at him. There is a clatter upstairs and Piper's 20 year old brother Cal, emerged from the stairs and entered the living room. Bill pulled out his wallet and threw a twenty dollar bill at Cal's feet. Cal's eyes flicked from the money, to his father, to Piper and repeated the process once more. "PIPER CAME OUT?! NO WAY. CONGRATULATIONS, LITTLE SISTER."

Piper was completely confused. "You took out bets on my sexuality?!" Piper was stunned. "Grandma too?!" Carol smiled. "No sweetheart, not your sexuality, just when you would admit it or come to terms with it. Your father said it wouldn't be until you turned eighteen. Cal, your grandma and I had a bit more faith in you. We love you no matter what. Obviously."

This was such a weird day for Piper.

She looked to her Dad for some sort of conformation but he just rolled his eyes at her. "Geez, Piper, you couldn't have waited what 13 months? Really?"

Piper actually laughed. The entire experience had been completely different to what she had expected. She'd expected drama, or tears or something, but not this.

"Tell me about your girl!" Her Mom was actually being girly and excited. "Um, her name is Alex, she's 17 the oldest in the year, actually. She lives a few streets over actually. She rides a Kawasaki Ninja. She has jet black hair, dyed, tattoos that are really lovely, and where's these black rimmed square glasses. She's also super smart and lovely, she's in all AP classes and has early admission to Harvard Business school in the fall." Piper knew immediately they were impressed. How could you not be? Alex Vause was a chick magnet but she was also a parent magnet. Parents loved her, they generally frowned upon the tattoos and the motorcycle but the 8 foreign languages she spoke and her SAT score really helped with that.

"Well, we can't wait to meet her! It'll be like a pride party. I'll make dinner and invite your grandparents over and it'll be lovely!" Her parents grinned from across the lounge at her. Piper grinned back, this was going to be interesting.

* * *

Alex was so proud of Piper. But she was also terrified at the prospect of a whole family of people being quite so excited to meet her. Usually when it came to a girls family, she hung around long enough to make a good impression so when the girl cried to her Mom, her Mom would be surprised and say something along the lines of, "But she was such a nice girl.". Piper however was different and commitment, which she was more than ready for, would also mean getting to know her girl's family. She knew how much Piper's family mattered to her and she was excited to meet the people that had contributed to the girl she was falling for.

For the week in between they carried on as usual, until Alex had been given the all clear in person there was no sense in announcing their relationship to their friends and wider peer group, they saw each other in passing in the corridors and shared kisses and stories in the dim lighting of the AV lecture hall.

But then finally the night was upon them. Alex wore smart black skinny jeans with a nice red black shirt and leather jacket. Piper picked her up and presented her with flowers and pecked a kiss to her lips before they set off for her house where the majority of her family waited. The whole way over Piper gave encouraging squeezes of her hand but Alex wasn't too worried. She knew she was charming and she knew by the end of the night Piper's family would love her. She just wanted Piper to love her with them.

They climbed out of Piper's black plymouth duster in the driveway and approached the huge suburban family house's great oak front door with interlinked hands. Piper and Alex exchanged a hopeful look as Carol Chapman pulled open the door with a huge grin on her face. "You must be Alex! Come in! Come in! Can I get you a drink?"

It was going to be an interesting evening, Alex thought as she stepped over the threshold.

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 **That's it! Reviews are so welcome and encouraged, they inspire me to write! Thanks again for the continued love and support!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Firstly, I'm sorry about the update delay, I haven't had a laptop for a few weeks :( I'm back now!**

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Alex was ushered through the door and straight into the living room. Alex couldn't help but notice the rainbow banners adorned everywhere and raises an eyebrow to Piper. Piper just shrugs. and mouths the word 'Pride'. "Can I get you a drink Alex?" Carol was too excited to be reasonable. "That would be lovely, thank you Mrs Chapman." Carol waves a dismissive hand. "Please it's Carol to the girl that's making my daughter so happy." Alex smiles and Piper squeezes her hand. The evening settles into a million questions about Alex but it it wasn't uncomfortable.

 _So Harvard? You ride motorcycle?_ ** _"Wicked!" Cal was impressed._** _You're bilingual? 8 foreign languages?! Where do you live? What do your parents do? What's the goal for the future? What's your favourite movie? Do you have any brothers or sisters? How's the chicken? Another drink? Now you better treat are little girl well._ ** _They laugh but they're only half joking._**

It goes on like that all evening, overall they're thoroughly impressed with Alex Vause. And Alex is impressed with them. They're lovely and kind and she could see a lot of Piper in them. Soon enough it reaches the end of the night, Cal was in love and Celeste had had one too many to drink. When it was time for Alex to leave every family member gave her a hug, even Cal, who quickly sat down and grabbed a cushion afterwards. As Celeste leaned in to give her a hug she said in a loud drunk whisper, "She gets it from me you know, the lesbianism. I was a lesbian once." Alex laughs but Piper looks somewhere between mildly amused and shocked. "Grandma!"

"Alex, excuse my mother, you're welcome here any time, okay? Don't be a stranger."

Alex smiles. "Thank you Carol. Thank you for dinner it was lovely."

Piper opens the car door for Alex outside Alex's house. "Well that was something!" Mainly they're both relieved but it had been a heavy night. "Thank you so much Alex." Alex placed a kiss on her forehead. "You're welcome Pipes, I'm really proud of you. You know." She gives her hand a gentle squeeze and Piper's heart flutters. "Alex, I'm falling for you really fast." Alex wraps her arms around Pipers waist. "I'm falling for you too kid."

* * *

Once her family knew, the rest of the world seemed like a breeze. But Piper's was used to her invisibility and her recent entrance into the world of popularity meant that the announcement of her new relationship with the hottest senior in Boston was going to be slightly more upscale than it might have been with anyone else.

Alex wouldn't let her be anxious about it though. She didn't say anything to dismiss her fear, she didn't have to. She just reached out and took her hand and placed a kiss between her knitted brows and she couldn't stop the relaxation flooding through her. How could she be worried when she had Alex Vause on her arm?

They had decided that from the Monday after she came out to her parents they would stop pretending to be friends at school. Alex was mildly amused at keeping it from Nicky knowing how insanely jealous she would be when she found out but Piper felt bad about keeping it from Polly given that Polly almost set the wheels in motion for the romance.

The corridor was filled with the normal hustle and bustle of lunch time as Alex arrived at her locker. She chatted easily with everyone and made a point of being nice to the unpopular kids, she tossed a pig skin lazily to Nicky as she deposited her books in her locker. She could feel the stares of the girls she had dated before and of the girls that wanted to date her every time she entered a public space in school. Girl's in short skirt or tight high waisted jeans casually twirling their hair around their fingers asking what her plans were for the evening and if she wanted them to be part of them. Alex used to love that game. Bag the girl and get away. But Piper changed all that. She was interested in making Alex fall over herself to get her. She didn't want a game, and she didn't need it. She knew Alex wanted her and wanted to be with her. It was effortless. Piper hadn't even really tried to get her attention, Alex had just got hooked.

Piper had that effect on people. Piper entered the room and you knew just by the direction people were looking in. She was witty and clever and quick and beautiful. Alex had never met anyone quite like her.

Alex was so serious about this girl that she'd even spoken to her Mom about her. Diane understood the deal. She didn't care that her daughter was gay as long as she was happy and she didn't care if she bought twenty girls home because she knew that her daughter enjoyed the challenge and she wasn't going to get pregnant any time soon. But Diane also knew that Alex was head over heels for this one. Girls were never given a name by Alex Vause when talking to her mother. They were always just the most recent one and whatever comments made were brief but they'd spent the entire dinner conversation for about two weeks talking about this girl. Alex was one of three children. She had an older sister and a younger brother. Her sister was 24, married happily with two beautiful kids. Her little brother was 13 and insanely jealous of Alex's constant haul of girls and tried to mimic her as much as possible. She thought it was sweet that he wanted to be a womaniser just like she was. Not was. Had been. Before Piper.

Because Piper rocked the boat.

Heads turned as Alex's locker shut and Alex knew Piper had just entered the hallway. She turned and found her assumption to be correct as Piper emptied her bag into her locker. She paused briefly before shutting her locker and she turned. Today was the day. No more hiding. Alex Vause was her girl and it was about time everyone knew it. Her eyes locked with Alex's and ignoring the question in Alex's eyes Piper strode across the hallway and slammed Alex against the locker, kissing her fiercely to the soundtrack of stunned silence. Piper grinned against Alex's lips and carried on kissing her, like she'd be dying to do since she'd pulled into the parking lot that morning and seen Alex leaning against her motorbike waiting for her, dear god, she looked so hot in leather.

The kiss was fierce and passionate and Alex wove her hands into Piper's hair and then suddenly they broke apart, desperate for air but desperate for each other. And then they remembered where they were. "Woah." Alex said quietly. And then the applause and wolf whistles. A cheer and a football thrown from somewhere. The girls laughed. Alex put on her best presenter voice. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Piper Chapman." Piper gave a mock bow and laced her fingers through Alex's. "Let's go and get some lunch." Alex had never been more attracted to Piper than at that precise moment, whilst her face was flushed and her hair was messy, in a big baggy cardigan and skinny jeans and converses, guiding her out of the crowd. She was in love.

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They were trending on twitter in Boston. #Vauseman. This was insane. Piper and Alex set up projector for AV club in the big airy lecture hall and found surprisingly that no one else found them. Not that they were hiding… They curled up in their reserved seats and sang along to Mary Poppins and laced their fingers together. This week had already been manic and it was only Tuesday. The film finished and the tape reel clicked over as Alex started to speak. "I know how heavy this week has already been, so feel free to say no, but Nicky wants us to go on a date with her and Lorna on Friday. Piper gave a small smile, she was already so drained but she could tell this mattered to Alex. "Sure babe." Alex's eyes lit up, her grin taking over her face. "You will?" Piper laughed and got up to stop the projector. "Yep." Alex actually fist pumped the air. Piper rolled her eyes a smile wide on her face. "You're such a goof ball and no one knows it." She heaves a dramatic sigh. "If only people knew this side of you." She laughs and Alex grins a mischievous grin. "Oh no. What are you thinking?" Piper knows that look. Alex springs out of her chair and runs easily into the isle where Piper stands and throws her over her shoulder whilst tickling her. "That's it! Your so mean to me." They're both laughing hysterically as Alex scooped up their bags and headed towards the door. "I'm just going to have to show you how much you really love me aren't I?" Alex was such a hopeless romantic at heart and Piper was overwhelmed by how lucky she felt at that moment.

A comfortable silence falls between them as the exit the building, Piper still casually tossed over Alex's shoulder. "You're so strong." She didn't intend it to come out sounding quite as surprised as it did, Alex laughs anyway. "You're just light Pipes." She places her on her feet by her car door. They're the perfect height ratio, Piper has to stand slightly on her tiptoes to kiss Alex. She wraps her arms around Alex's neck. "It's no wonder you have girls falling at your feet Vause." The look in Piper's eyes is only known by those who have truly been in love. It's adoration and love to the sincerest level. It's intense and real. When Piper looks at Alex the world slows down. All she can see is Alex. Those black square glasses and her perfectly quaffed jet black hair. The rockabilly tattoos and her fuck-me grin. Alex Vause was perfect. "Be my girlfriend Pipes?" Piper grinned. She was completely perfect. Piper kisses her softly, slowly and passionately. "Yes. Obviously." Alex puts her hand on the car behind Piper and walks forward until Piper is leaning against it, biting her lip. "You're so sarcastic. I love it." Alex leans in and kisses her, fierce and hot. Piper's stomach flips and her knees are weak and she pulls Alex impossibly closer. She can't get enough of her. Then Alex pulls away, grinning her signature grin. "See you tomorrow, girlfriend." She laughs and winks but her pupils are dilated and her face is flush. Her hair messy. It was the same sort of intense as the hallway earlier and you could tell she felt it. Piper grins and gets into her car. Alex Vause was sex appeal if sex appeal was a person, she was irresistible and everyone knew it, but Piper. Piper knew it all to well.

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 **Once again, really sorry it's taken so long! Hopefully you enjoy this update! Thank you so much for the continued reviews and support, they motivate me to write and I really appreciate them!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi, thank you again for your continued support and the reviews which are so so encouraging. I'm always happy to take** **suggestions so if you have any particular wishes for the happy couple let me know.**

 **Otherwise, Happy Reading!**

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Never ever had Alex Vause thought and felt about a girl the way she did Piper Chapman. She had no idea if people normally felt this at some point or other, all she knew is that since that very first AV club Piper Chapman was the first thing she thought about in the morning and the last thing at night. Commitment-phobe and ladies woman gone rogue, Alex Vause had met her match. Except she hadn't because in her books, Piper was way, way out of her league.

Everyday Alex found herself falling in love with Piper in a new way, everyday she noticed something else about Piper that made her impossible not to love. Things that were usually insignificant or tedious even, became exciting, became the things she looked forward to most in the day; walking down the hallway holding Piper's hand, or the way her fingers always managed to lace themselves in Piper's hair when they kissed, Piper's fuck-me-eyes when they had a particularly intense make out session and her sarcastic eye rolls when someone said something stupid. It was the way she melted every time she saw Piper smile and the ecstatic feeling she got when she was the reason for her smile. Alex had even fallen for Piper's crazy but loveable, eccentric family, and she was psyched, beneath her bravado and confidence, that they liked her too.

When Alex had first really got to know Piper in that first AV club, Alex had already fallen head over heels, from that very first challenge Piper had been pushing Alex to be better and to try harder. Alex wouldn't have changed her for the world. Piper Chapman, big hoodie and all was exactly what Alex wanted. But Piper had undergone this massive transformation, it was so fast it was like a cheesy montage in a rom-com. From anti-social hermit to socialite goddess. Piper Chapman had gone from avoiding the crowd to making out with Alex Vause, resident hottie, in the hallway against the lockers. It was insane.

That particular lazy Saturday morning they were curled up on the sofa in Piper's guest house which they had adopted as their own most weekends since Piper had come out. The guest house was a small bungalow at the bottom of Piper's extensive family garden. It was one bedroom with kitchenette and living space. It was cozy and filled with bookshelves and family photos and more throw pillows than anyone really needed but it made the little place feel homely, like they were really living together, the place was empty most of the year apart from when Piper's grandparents came to stay so there was no real issue to their using it. Alex grinned to herself as Piper snuggled in closer, book in hand. Alex pressed a kiss to the top of Piper's head and Piper turned to look up at her girlfriend.

"What are you thinking about?" Piper nudged Alex a little. Alex smiled again. "You. You used to be so feisty, now you're so tame." She laughed and winked. Piper shoved her playfully. "Watch it, I'm still feisty. You used to be intimidating but that was before I found out what a big old softie you are." They hadn't been together long, and they'd known each other properly for what felt like even less time but the two girls had this instant connection. They knew each other like they'd had known each other their whole lives. They clicked. There was something just so right about it them together.

Piper puts her book on the coffee table and rolls over so she can look at Alex properly. "I can't believe this year Al. You changed everything you know?" Alex knew. Their whole worlds had kind of been rocked. "This is how senior year should be, but this isn't what I was expecting you know? I'm Piper Chapman, library dweller, antisocial, anti-people really and I've had a crush on you for literally, as long as I can remember." Piper blushed with her confession. "You're Alex fricking Vause, you know? You're the oldest and smartest girl in our year. You're sexy and beautiful and you have these kick ass tattoos and you always managed to make everyone feel included. No kid left out. You're so generous and kind and I've always stuck to the peripherals trying not to stand out and not to get involved. But, I didn't even hesitate when it came to you Al. That AV club, the moment you took my hand when I tried to leave…it was like jumping in a warm bath. You're so instantly familiar and charming and I mean look at you, you're basically every girl's wet dream." Alex laughed, completely touched by the sincerity in her voice. "But some how…Some how, I am lucky enough to call you my girlfriend. And that is so fucking awesome. I remember you eating glue in kindergarten and sharing your cookies your Mom made with everyone because you didn't think it was fair that some people in the class didn't have Mom's to make cookies for them and the time you fell off that horse on that field trip to the ranch, and you'd fallen a hell of a way for a little kid but you're such a painful optimist that you brushed yourself off and you gave it another go because you didn't want anyone else to be scared. Alex. Seriously I've been falling for you for years now. "

Alex squeezed Piper. "Piper Elizabeth Chapman. You are the single, sweetest person in the entire world. If I'd known you were interested in me this whole time I would've…let's just say I've wasted a life time so far on girls that mean nothing when the only person that has ever meant something was right under my nose all along. Pipes. I love you. Seriously I do. I am in love with you, head over heels in love in fact." Piper's lips hit Alex's passionately. She tore herself away just as quickly. "Alex. I love you too. I really really do." Alex pushed a strand of hair away from Piper's face and grinned a grin she was sure hit her ears. "You're insanely beautiful Piper." She pulled her closer gently, they were lying now, eye level with each other on the sofa.

Alex pressed her lips gently to Piper's once. Piper kissed her slightly harder in return. Alex sat up and pulled Piper with her, tangling her fingers in Piper's hair instantly as she crashed her lips back to Pipers. Piper moved to straddle Alex and linked her arms around Alex's neck. Alex tore her lips away from Piper's with great difficulty and relocated them to Piper's neck, dragging her teeth down the sensitive skin eliciting a breathy moan from Piper. Piper took one hand and grabbed Alex's chin forcing her girlfriends lips back onto her own grazing her teeth on Alex's bottom lip and grinding her hips down against Alex's. Piper ran her tongue along Alex's bottom lip as though asking for permission and their tongues found each other. Dancing and caressing each other as the tension built and built.

Alex flipped Piper over onto her back and was just noticing to her pleasure that Piper was wearing a shirt with poppers when she shook herself. This was Piper, she couldn't bag her on the couch like she was just some girl. She pulled herself away fanning herself. "Don't just leave a girl hanging you tease." Piper shoved Alex playfully. Alex grinned. She knew how hot that make out session had been and she knew exactly where it had been headed before she'd pulled herself away. "I'm sorry Pipes, but I can't." A look of complete hurt washed over Piper. "No no no! Not like that. I can, I mean look at you. You can feel the electricity between us and trust me I definitely want to. I just can't like this. You're mean the world to me and I want our first time together to reflect that okay?" Piper's face softened, she absent-mindedly ran her fingers through her sexy make out hair. "You're too sweet for you own good you know that Alex?" Alex waved a dismissing hand. "I think I need a very cold shower." Piper raised an eyebrow. "Why's that something got you all hot and bothered sweetheart?" She winked at her girlfriend and popped the first few buttons on her shirt exposing both a red lacy bra and excellent cleavage. "Not something like this for example?" _Damn, this girl is good._ Alex raised an eyebrow whilst her heart started racing. How many girls had she been with? And yet Piper Chapman was the only one who managed to get her crazy like this. Piper moved to straddle Alex again, who was in a sort of stunned trance, and now exactly eye level with the formerly mentioned excellent cleavage. Piper's bronze, sun kissed skin even darker against the red of her bra was turning Alex on ridiculous amounts. Piper kissed Alex's neck, slowly and with firm intent. She grazed her teeth over Alex's earlobe and Alex actually shuddered. _Dear god._ Piper dragged her nails down Alex's back, whilst arching up so Alex's face was neatly pressed against Piper's breasts. And when Alex nearly couldn't stand it anymore Piper suddenly stood up and buttoned up her shirt and without saying a word she winked and strutted away toward the bathroom.

 _Minx. What a complete minx. I am seriously the luckiest girl in the entire world._ Alex was in for one hell of a ride.

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 **Somewhat racier chapter, let me know what you think! Reviews are always welcomed! Thank you all again and I hope you keep enjoying it.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi! Sorry it's been a while since i last updated! I'm currently doing some work experience so I really haven't had time! Before you read on, I have to remind everyone that this story is M Rated for a reason. Baring that in mind; this chapter maybe be triggering for some readers.**

 **Enjoy.**

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The day had finally come, the day Piper would meet Alex's Mom, Diane. She found she couldn't be too nervous because of the way Alex described her mother. Piper got the impression that Alex genuinely was best friends with her Mom, and Piper greeted this with a mix of envy at how close they were and overwhelming surge of love for Alex, because it was so adorable.

"Seriously Al, I'm excited. I love you and I want to meet the woman that made you, you." Alex grinned and placed a kiss on Piper's forehead. "I love you too Pipes. Here we go." Alex unlocked the door and pushed it open.

The first thing Diane did was pull Piper into a massive hug. Her thick New Jersey accent was immediately apparent, "So this is the girl my daughter is crazy about! Come in! Now you can call me Diane! But I'm fairly certain if this one gets her way it'll be Mom-in-law soon enough!" Alex couldn't be embarrassed by her Mom. She grinned and watched Piper go scarlet. "Hey don't say no just yet." She gave her girlfriend a playful shove and went to the kitchen to make everyone a drink. Alex had purposefully made sure that her siblings weren't at home the first time she bought Piper home. She knew her Mom could be overwhelming in the most endearing way. When Alex returned the baby photos were already out and Alex rolled her eyes, but she was pleased to see her two favourite people were getting along like a house on fire.

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As evening drew closer Alex pulled the two women apart who had been nattering for hours. They gave each other a big hug when Alex and Piper left, and they promised that they would see each other for dinner very soon. Alex laughed as she pulled the door shut behind them.

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 **Piper**

"Come on! You know you want a go! You love this bike!" Alex had been trying for a while to convince Piper to have a go on her motorbike. Secretly Piper had always wanted a motorbike, of course, her parents would never have let her. Piper had made the mistake of voicing this dream to Alex who was completely thrilled by the idea. There was just something so sexy about riding a motorbike, something particularly sexy about the idea of Piper on a motorbike. Alex had brought a spare helmet and leather jacket with her which were draped over the bike waiting for Piper's confirmation. She took a step forward and squeezed Piper's hand. "If you're scared then you don't have to, you don't have to do anything you don't want to darling." Piper dismissed this idea quickly, she shook her head. "No I want to!" She threw the jacket on and pulled the helmet over her head. "Let's go! Let's go!" Alex laughed at her girlfriend's sudden burst of courage and slipped onto the bike. Darkness had firmly fallen before they set off so the roads were more or less empty. The first thing that struck Piper was how exhilarating it was, but being pressed against Alex had that affect. The crisp wind hit her face as they raced through the night and pulled her hair behind her as she clung to Alex waist. "Wooooo!" Piper called to the night and laughed with her head thrown back, she gave Alex's middle an affectionate squeeze, she thought this was amazing. Until the lights. The lights that popped suddenly on and the car to those lights attached that emerged out of the darkness.

Nothing happened in the moment between those lights appearing and the screech of tires. Not one breath or a blink of an eye, Piper hadn't even finished her laugh before it happened. The distinct smell of burning rubber and the sensation of flying. The desperate grasping for something to cling to but reaching nothing and the metallic taste of blood on her lips. The same rush of adrenaline but no. Not the same. This wasn't exhilarating this was terrifying.

They say when you have near death experiences your life flashes before your eyes but that didn't happen for Piper. No. All she saw was Alex. Flashes of Alex behind her eye lids which were tightly squeezed shut. Alex who was hurtling through the air just a few feet away from her. Alex who had been driving. Alex who would blame herself if anyone was hurt. Alex who hadn't been wearing her helmet on this day of all days.

 _Alex._

 _Alex._

 _Alex._

 _Tarmac._

 _Smash._

 ** _Fuck._**

 _Ow._

 ** _Darkness._**

 **Alex**

Piper was actually laughing, well, giggling, actually giggling behind her. Enjoying herself despite all her anxieties about riding a motorbike like Alex had been expecting she would. Her love for her motorbike and that thrill of riding it had never got old for Alex. The bike was about three years old now and it was still her baby. She had saved for this bike and it had more than payed for itself with the added sex appeal it provided. She would never have made Piper go on her bike but she had to admit it was sexy as fuck when her girlfriend was straddling it behind her, clinging to her as they raced the wind. The wind wiped through her hair as they sped along and she was painfully aware that she wasn't wearing a helmet. She couldn't believe she hadn't picked them both up. She was usually so diligent about safety. She grinned anyway. What a good day.

Until it wasn't.

At her side the lights appeared from the darkness and her first thought was almost comical. _For fuck sake. I always wear my helmet._ She slammed the handle bars away from the car, trying to swerve. _Piper._ The car had come out of no where, suddenly switched their lights on but it was no use. They were already going too fast. Already not looking at the road. The driver realised at the last moment what was about to happen. They tried to swerve as Alex did the same, it was too late. Alex turn was too sharp the wheels buckled on the bike as the car slammed into the side of it sending Alex and Piper flying. Then slow motion kicked in. She span in the darkness and saw Piper. Saw Piper squeeze her eyes tight shut as she lifted off of the bike. Saw Piper bite her lip hard as her head was thrown forward in the impact. Saw Piper sail through the air. Piper was petite, light and aerodynamic despite the heavy leather and helmet. She saw Piper hit the ground first where she lay inanimate in front of her. And that was the last thing she saw before her head smacked into the tarmac.

 **Carol**

"It's your daughter Mrs Chapman. She's been in an accident. We need you to come in right away."

 **Bill**

"Bill, it's Piper and Alex, they were in an accident."

 **Diane**

"Ms Vause, Alex was in an accident, could you come to Massachusetts general hospital?"

 **Nicky**

"Alex and Piper were in an accident, I'm on my way there now."

 **Polly**

"It's Nicky Nichols? I'm Alex's best friend. I didn't know if anyone had let you know, Alex and Piper were in an accident. They're at Massachusetts general hospital. Do you want me to pick you up?"

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 **Well that's it! Review, make suggestions, thank you so much for your continued love and support! It's very much appreciated!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, just quickly, thank you so much for your continued support and love! I'm sorry for the time it's taken me to update, back at college now and suffocating under my work load so I will update as regularly as I possibly can! Thank you again, enjoy and review!**

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Their loved ones and family members gathered anxiously in the waiting room, all any one was certain of was the worrying uncertainty that loomed over them. The clock ticked obnoxiously loudly, as though amplified to emphasise the pain and nervousness they were all experiencing, to make them all painfully aware of the time ticking past whilst they were yet to hear news of the girls. Bill, Nicky and Polly sat whilst Diane and Carol paced the squeaky hospital linoleum floor, looking up expectantly at each doctor or nurse that walked through the double doors that separated them from Alex and Piper, and turned disheartened when they brought with them no news. Each person was quiet. Thinking and contemplating what might happen. Bill tapped his foot with nervous rhythm. Polly picked at the fading fabric of the waiting room chair and Nicky glanced at the flat screen that displayed the news that had not yet reported the accident but which was catch up with them sooner or later.

 **Bill**

 _I can't. I can't. Carol's panicking. Who am I kidding, I'm panicking. I know I'm meant to stand. To comfort my wife in her pacing, but there's nothing I can do. Not my little girl. Why my little girl? Not Piper. Not Alex either. They're going to be okay. They've got to be okay._

 **Carol**

 _Dear god. Dear god. She's going to be fine. Piper's strong. They're going to be alright. They're going to tell us any minute now we've been worrying for nothing. That they're okay. That my daughter is okay._

 **Diane**

 _Alex. My baby girl. I have to see her, I need to see her. I could steal one of those security passes, I could get through the door. I need to see Alex. Alex needs to be okay. My little girl is a fighter. Nothing can stop her. I can't lose her too. I can't. If I lost her - No, she's going to be okay. Stop crying Diane. Alex is going to be okay._

 **Nicky**

 _Jeez Vause. How could you not be wearing a helmet? Honest to fucking god, you always wear that damn fucking helmet. When you're better Vause I'm going to fucking kill you. Ahaha. Alex probably would've rolled her eyes at that. Alex has been my best friend for life. Who am I without Alex Vause? Not that I'm ever going to find out. Because Alex Vause is no fucking quitter. She's going to be okay. What would Alex do right now? Is the voice of Alex Vause my conscience? Probably. You're right brain, Piper's friends top is very low cut. Nice. Alex would probably high five me now. She's going to be okay just for that high five._

 **Polly**

 _Thank god Piper was wearing a helmet. She's always been so sensible. This is why I love her. Sensible and reliable. I know she's going to be okay. Dear god. Why haven't they told us something? Anything? No news is good news. Unless its bad news. No - she was going to be okay. She was going to be alright. Maybe I should go and pack her a night bag? But then I might miss news. And she hadn't driven here. Nicky had picked her up. Wait is Nicky looking at my cleavage? Really?!_

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 ** _And in other local news; two local seniors of Litchfield High School have been involved in a collision tonight. We are yet to be updated with the conditions of the girls but can confirm that the driver of the car that crashed into the motorbike earlier this evening died at the scene. 19 year old Tricia Miller was heavily intoxicated and it is suspected that she had stolen the car earlier that evening before the fatal collision. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and loved ones of all those involved._**

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The really strange thing about being in any sort of accident is that your suffering ultimately is a lot worse than the suffering your family and friends experience. This is what Piper had been thinking about as she danced in and out of consciousness. When you're out cold you don't feel the pain and so it's not really an issue. But whilst you're out cold all your family can do is worry. You don't feel their desperation and anxiety, they're worry or concern. No. You feel everything, you feel your teeth sink into your own lip and you feel weightless as you fly through the air, you feel the your organs moving faster than the rest of your body, and you feel a sharp burst of despair as you realise this isn't only you, this is the girl you love and the driver of the car. You feel everything, you feel the gravity and the exact pressure of air on your body, you feel immense love and regret and fear, you feel everything up to impact and then? Nothing.

There is great debate in the scientific community about whether time travel exists. One smart guy argues that the paradigms of the time space continuum cannot bare the rip that time travel would cause, another says that it cannot be possible, we would destroy ourselves. One person contributes that it is completely real and but we wouldn't know about it because there are probably really strict rules about it. Piper thought they'd been thinking about it in the wrong way entirely. Time travel existed completely when you hit the tarmac at 65 mph. You black out on a Tuesday and then it's a week later and you're completely lost.

That's how Piper felt when she woke up surrounded by the concerned faces of her family members and friends, lost. She'd lost time, she'd lost herself, she had no idea where she was or what had happened. And then all at once it hit her, as fast and as painfully as the car that had put her in the hospital bed she found herself in.

One question, desperate and agony laced, escaped Piper's lips as tears started rolling down her cheeks. "Where is Alex?"

And then she slipped back into darkness.

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Piper was as okay as could be expected. A broken leg and a broken arm. A few broken ribs nothing too serious. Because of the force with which she had hit the tarmac she had been slipping in and out of consciousness for four days much to the despair of her family. Apparently it was quite a common result of car accidents and other than frequent migraines for a week or so she would be fine.

When she finally woke properly panic gripped her. Unable to move her arm and leg, fear ripping through her that she was paralysed before realising they were in casts. Casts, she realised after a moment that were covered in the signatures and well wishes of what looked like the entire school. She hadn't noticed she had made such an impression on her peers. There was only one signature she cared for though. She hunted through the scrawls of multicolour sharpie for Alex's name and felt like her heart was in a vice when she realised it wasn't there.

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 **I'll** **endeavour to update as soon as possible, love writing this fic so I'll return as soon as I can! Once again thank you so much for your continued support, reviews are so encouraging and also suggestions are completely welcome!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I know it's been a while, I have excuses but I don't suppose you particularly want to hear them, what's important is I have a chapter for you. I hope you enjoy it because I loved writing this one!**

 **Reviews are so so encouraging and I love hearing your feed back and suggestion! Thank you!**

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Alex was a firm believer that there were two sides to every story. Two sides of a coin. Two routes, always two options, if not more, that you can take. And Alex's coin toss was now. Live or die. Stay or leave. Love or lose.

 _The monitor beeped rhythmically in time with each passing heart beat Alex gave in her unconsciousness. There is nothing more distressing for a mother than seeing your child tangled in an assortment of machines and tubes, leading in and out, keeping them alive because they're not strong enough to support themselves. And on top of that, they're bloody and bruised and as a mother you can't bare to see your baby in pain. It crushes you._

Alex stood by her mother, her hand on her shoulder as she sobbed quietly, looking over her pretty mangled other self. What struck her as odd was the ease with which she had accepted that whilst her body was in a coma, her _Sense of Being_ (She had rolled her eyes at that) was wandering the halls. But then she had watched If I Stay with Piper in AV club the week before so the idea wasn't that foreign to her.

She pulled herself out of thought and looked down at her mother who's sobbing had eased and realised she had fallen asleep. Alex wondered how long it had been since her Mom had slept in her own bed. She lifted the blanket that was folded on the end of Alex's bed and draped it over her Mom. With one last glance at herself Alex headed for the door. She had expected to find the hospital corridor on the other side but apparently that wasn't how things worked. "Principle Figueroa? What are you doing here?" Figueroa raised her eyebrow with that signature you-actually-think-I-give-a-shit-about-you expression. "Miss Vause. What a pleasure. As you can see you've walked into my office." Alex looked around the room. Shit. She was right. How did that happen? "So you've not quite grasped the outer body experience thing yet. Get over it. We have some stuff to cover. In a moment you are going to see how things could turn out. Notice could. You're not dead yet." Alex grinned. "Well on that cheery note—" Figueroa held up one perfectly manicured nail tipped finger. "I'm not finished Vause. So listen the fuck up. I don't know how this is happening, and honestly I don't give a shit either, but it is very important that you watch and listen. Needless to say you may find this experience…educating."

And then her image flickered, and suddenly it was as if she weren't looking at Alex at all but straight behind her. The phone rang. Figueroa swept a disgusted look over the room. "I should be doing better things than this. Principle of some ridiculous little school that can't even get their stereotypes right, I mean jesus christ." She stood and lifted the phone with her usual amount of aggression. Alex always wondered how she managed to wear heels all day every day, that seemed more alarming than whatever supernatural occurrence was happening right now. "Yes, hello, Natalie Figueroa, Principle of Litchfield High School what can I help you with?" She snapped at whoever was on the phone. "Hello Ms Vause, I've already assured you that that you need not worry about Alex's attendance record, these are extenuating circumstances after— Oh. On behalf of the school and student body you have our condolences Ms Vause. She was an exemplary student. She will be sincerely missed. Yes, I can't imagine the pain you're going through. Good bye, Ms Vause."

She placed the phone gently on the receiver and then crossed to the student files. "A.V, A.V, Ah there she is." Figueroa lifted the file from the draw, she took one unconcerned look over the file and then dropped the file into the bin. "One less for me to worry about."

Alex frowned from the corner of the room. "You're such a dick Figueroa." She waved her middle finger at her but the scene had already shifted away.

She was at the back of the gymnasium. And at the front. Her yearbook photo, that in this reality she would never see published, blown up so it covered half the wall. Alex had to say she did look pretty fucking good in that photo, well done Vause. Well done. She drew her attention to the crowd. No Nicky, no Piper but Polly, she was there and much to her surprise she was crying. Jeez, she never figured that she liked her that much. She would make the effort to be nicer to her when she woke up. _If she woke up._ Alex pushed the thought away. She tore her gaze away from Polly's shaking figure. There were a lot of people crying. People were weird when teenagers die. Random people you'd barely spoken too suddenly claimed you had been best friends, that they were mourning your loss more than anyone.

She noticed then that you're almost always beautiful in death. That's how they describe girls that die young isn't it? Beautiful. According to teachers, peers and loved ones anyway. That's how deputy principle Caputo started, "Today we mourn the loss of a beautiful young lady." Bullshit. Alex was much more than her looks; they could've started with anything, she was the quarterback of the school's all girl football team, she was an above average student, she was a badass - they could've picked any of those but no, that's how she would be immortalised, like every other person taken too young - Beautiful. She supposed there were worse ways to be remembered. She took one last sweeping glance at the scene, sobbing class mates and Caputo mid speech, and then the scene changed.

It was her hospital room, strangely quiet and unusually empty. Alex realised the machines that had been supporting her had been removed from the room. All that filled the room now was a sad empty chair, the depressing hospital bed and Alex. Twice. Paler than she had ever seen herself, the bruises and cuts less prominent than they had been when she had left the room, Alex changed her mind. She was quite beautiful in death. Alex approached the bed side slowly. Despite Alex's usual optimism this scene was something quite unbearable. If this reality played out she would never graduate, she would never have a career or have kids or get married, she would never watch anything grow, she would never hold Piper in her arms again, she would never see her brother grow into the man she knew he would become or be best man at Nicky's wedding, she would amount to nothing more than she was right now, at this instant. Alex had never feared death but at this moment with these realisations crashing into her, she was afraid. She wanted life. She wanted to make more of her life. She wanted to travel the world, to tell Piper she loved her, to spend another christmas with her Mom. She wanted to make every day count and remember how she felt at this precise moment so she would never take anything for granted again.

Alex looked down at her own face. Cold and lifeless. Frustration is an emotion that consumes. One after the other, rapid fire of things, facts, that shook her with frustration. If she'd been wearing a helmet. If she drove a car. If they had just stayed at hers. All this could've been avoided. But, no, she would never see the next iPhone or Adele's new album. She would never see the new Bond movie or the latest Star Wars. She would never see a cure for cancer or a female president. She would never know exactly how zips work or visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Some trivial but still horrendously frustrating facts. This was it, time would stop for her She was furious with the driver of the car that hit them and she was furious with herself. What if it was Piper in the bed in front of her? What if - Her thought stopped mid way. The door closed quietly behind her.

Tear stained and completely dishevelled, suffering coming off of her in tangible waves, Piper Chapman had never looked so broken. She stood at the door, her eyes filled with emptiness as though there was something missing from inside of her. She crossed the room. _One, two, three._ She counted silently under her breath the steps it took to reach Alex's lifeless side. She gazed into her face tears welling at her eyes. "Oh baby." Piper stroked her hair softly. "It should be me." She shook as the tears started rolling down her face and whispered to Alex's dead counterpart. "It should be me. If one of us had to die why couldn't it be me? I can't do this without you Alex. I don't want to live a life without Alex Vause. Alex Vause to make me smile and to kiss me in the hallway and to graduate next to and to marry some day. I would've done it all with you baby, travelled the world, settled down, whatever you wanted. I can't do this Al." Alex broke. She backed to the wall and slid down shaking. Sobbing violently. "Please. Please let me live. Please." She didn't know to whom she was directing the plea but she said it anyway, over and over as tears ran down her face and she ran her fingers through her hair and she listened to Piper's quiet sobs. "Please let me live. Please."

Once more the scene shifted. She was on the floor of Figueroa's office. "You look pathetic by the way." Figueroa snarled, She sat propped on the edge of her desk, one legged draped over the other inspecting her nails as Alex let the tears continue to roll down her face. "Why?" Figueroa rolled her eyes and threw a box of tissues at Alex. "You're so uninventive, everyone always asks why. Why is this happening to them? Why are they seeing this? Why do they deserve to die?" Alex took a deep breath and dried her eyes. She stood. "Not why then. How? How do I live instead of die?" Figueroa nodded in approval. "That's more like it. The point of this Alex Vause, is to make it very apparent to you that you are in control of your destiny or fate or more specifically, the How. I'll let you in on a little secret. This is How you made the decision, you couldn't decide if you wanted to stay or go. Not completely. Underneath this conscious level, part of you was thinking about leaving. Now you know, you want to live. All you have to do to live is to stop being a little pussy, that's how. All you have to do is wake up. It's been that simple the whole time. I'm only here as a formality." Figueroa stood up and walked towards Alex. "Wake up Alex. All you have to do is wake up." Figueroa was right in front of her now, raising her hands, laughing maniacally, her acrylic-nailed fingers hit her shoulders. "Wake up Alex." She dug her claws into her shoulders, pain piercing through her, a look of complete insanity crossed the principle's face. "Wake up." Then Figueroa shoved her through the open fifth floor window. As Alex hurtled toward the ground she heard one last thing before the familiar sensation of crushing against the tarmac and darkness over came her, "Wake up Alex Vause."

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 **Will she we wake up or will Piper's crushed dreams become reality?**

 **What do you think? Reviews and suggestions are more than welcome and appreciated!**


	9. Chapter 9

**So not entirely clear on whether you're going to like what I've decided to do with it - I'm not even sure I like it - but it's there now! SO, reviews, PM's suggestions; what you love/hate - I definitely want to know it all! Thank you for your continued support, despite my absence!**

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The transition from ill to healthy, broken to mended, vulnerable to confident; it was never the easiest trip to take and it was never the same for each individual. This transition was one Red saw daily, something she was part of for more or less all of her academic career; Red was a motherly sort of woman, chubby but in a cuddly way with short, choppy dyed red hair and whilst Red was a deeply caring individual, she tried not to get too attached to any of the patients, so often the children that came into the ICU didn't get the miracles they deserved. But one day a month or so ago they transferred a teenager onto Red's ward; a brunette, barely a 'child' still, and they told her that she would probably give up by the end of the week. Red shook her head then, as they stood beside Alex Vause's bed side. "No, this one? This one's a fighter I can feel it". And for the first time in twenty years, Red was attached. She would come in and read to Alex, she'd let her know who had tried to visit that week and when there were less people about she'd give her updates on her girlfriends condition, but before she left each time, she'd say very softly to the barely animated form in front of her, "Wake up Alex, wake up".

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 _ ***Approximately 11 years later***_

On opposite sides of the smokey, crowded living room, sat the two girls, practically strangers other than for their loose connection that was their mutual friend sleazy George whose party they were unfortunate enough to be at…and their distant past. House parties were never classy but this particular party was a complete dive. Everyone was already too drunk and they were only an hour in. Piper took a swig of her beer and rolled her eyes at the girls doing body shots on the dining table. Dubstep music pounded from the speakers too loud to be comfortable, and that was it.

Time to leave.

As Piper lowered the bottle from her lips, her eyes met the familiar grin of a stunning, leggy, tattooed woman across the room from her, who apart from looking almost as bored as she did (except from the smirk that Piper was fairly sure was in response to her eye roll) was shockingly unchanged since their last encounter. Piper tore her eyes away from the woman's lips and met her stormy grey, expertly eye liner-ed eyes behind those signature black square rimmed glasses. Yep, there she was. Alex Vause, in the flesh. It had been what? Ten years and dear god the time had done her well. Drunk, mildly horny, deeply confused in a mix of anger and overwhelming love, Piper stood, the blood (and more significantly, she expected, the beer) rushed to her head but she ignored it as she took two long strides across to the middle of the room, over the coffee table, closing the ten year long gap between them. Immediately grabbing her hand and pulling her up, Piper forgot all appropriate boundaries and captured Alex into a massive hug. "Alex Vause." She said with mild laughter behind it. "Piper Chapman." Alex returned the warmth in her voice and squeezed her tight, "How long a decade can seem! I've missed you Pipes." And just like that they clicked again, after everything, after all this time and with all the heart break and unanswered questions between them; Piper, with one arm snaked around Alex's waist and Alex, with one hand on the small of Piper's back, answered only one question. There was still something between them.

Their lips crashed together as Piper pushed them back down onto the sofa…

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 _ ***Approximately 10 years before***_

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ALEX, FUCK OFF. DO WHAT YOU LIKE SEE IF I CARE…UNDERSTAND ALEX? UNDER-FUCKING-STAND? NO, I DON'T FUCKING UNDERSTAND. I FUCKING LOVE YOU. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?…NOTHING HAPPENED. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD TRUST ME OVER THE MADDENING CROWD, I'M YOUR GIRLFRIEND FOR FUCK SAKE AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH YOU THINK I WOULD CHEAT ON YOU? REALLY? FUCK YOU ALEX, CALL ME BACK IF YOU REALISE YOU'RE BEING AN ASSHAT. I LOVE YOU, YOU TWAT." Piper threw her phone across the room and slid down the door, pulling her knees to her chest as the tears shook through her. The room got dark around her as she sat with her heart feeling like it was breaking. She'd come so close to losing Alex and she couldn't believe she'd finally got her back and Alex was doing this to her. She didn't understand.

She couldn't.

She wouldn't.

She waited for the call; the call where Alex would say she was sorry for everything and that they could fix it, that she would trust her and she would deal with whatever was going on inside her head, that they could deal with it together. For the affirmation that they were going to be in love, that they would settle down and get married and have kids and live the dream they talked about.

The call never came.

The shock came like a tonne of bricks dropped out of a window in the comically un-comical slapstick of a silent movie, ready to flatten the protagonist with little more than an 'Opps' from the upstairs resident. Alex was gone. Moved to England to study at Oxford instead of Harvard as they had previously expected, gone with less than a good bye and with no word of explanation, she removed herself from Piper's life as though she had never mattered at all.

* * *

 _ ***The party***_

To this day she couldn't decide what exactly had done it. Maybe she realised the grief her being in Piper's life had caused, maybe it was the shattering worry she felt whenever she and Piper crossed a road or the overwhelming confusion that laced her everyday life. She had missed months of her life, trapped in a comatose state that stole her time away, and left only in her waking hours a distinct disorientation. And then the panic attacks, the post traumatic stress disorder and the therapist who pointed out that this wasn't her. That to move on, to really recover from the accident, Alex couldn't be here anymore. Home, the town she had grown up in and where she'd fallen in love. The suggestion had been that maybe a change of scene, away from the place it had happened, would help her on her road to normality. And maybe she knew that Piper would have given up her dreams, her place at Smith and her family and her friends to come with her to England, maybe she knew that Piper would have sacrificed it all for her and maybe it was for that exact reason that she desperately had wanted to tell her that she was leaving. But in the end she knew that hurting Piper now would save the years of resent Piper might ultimately end up feeling towards Alex and so with tears rolling down her face, sobs raking through her body, she had insisted that Piper and her were over, that Piper was cheating on her (even though she knew she would never hurt her like that) and that they couldn't stay together, and then she had boarded the plane.

And it had been ten years. Ten, long, agonising years and whilst she had assumed that 28 year old Piper Chapman had moved on, maybe married, had kids possibly - Alex had never been able to fall for someone again. After a while she had tried. And sure she'd slept with women, she was still magnetic to lesbians (especially in England where her husky accent had worked better than any one liner or low cut top to attract girls), but it had never been love, it had never lasted…

When she looked up and saw that eye roll, she had known instantly, a wave of butterflies and it felt like her heart had started beating again. If bumping into Piper by chance at a random party wasn't fate at work she didn't know what was. She grinned and that's when Piper met her eyes, and she watched as Piper slightly tipsy crossed the room (and over the coffee table) at immense speed and pulled her to her feet. Expecting a back hand at best, Alex braced herself, and then Piper threw her arms around her and Alex's heart took off racing. "Alex Vause." She said it with a humour that Alex knew was confusion, anger, and love rolled into one. "Piper Chapman." She returned the sentiment with a warmth and tried to convey her deep desire to be close to her with one simple squeeze. "How long a decade can seem! I've missed you Pipes."

She didn't know who started it, but she was kissing Piper and Piper was kissing her and her knees were hitting the sofa as Piper pushed her back down and straddled her lap not breaking the kiss for air or for questioning, Alex couldn't help but regret not coming back sooner.

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 ** _Soooo,_ I know I have a lot of explaining to do, and if you guys really hate it I'll rewrite this chapter but I'm excited to see what I can do with the gap! Any suggestions/criticisms are entirely welcome and I really truly thank you for your continued support!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I know, I know - I'm the worst at updating! But yay! New chapter! I have to remind y'all before you start that this fic is m rated for a reason! Happy reading!**

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Piper's back hit the door with a dull thud, blood rushing in her ears, her heart racing; Alex pinning her there with one hand, the other against the door. Piper gasped as Alex dragged her teeth down her neck. They paused for a moment whilst, with shaking hands, Alex fumbled with keys, desperately trying to focus through the lust and alcohol coursing through her veins. She finally got the key in the lock and she and Piper collapsed through the door into her tiny flat. She dropped her keys, coat and bag, kicking off her heels before spinning and lifting Piper, her lips crashing to hers as Alex slammed her against the wall. Legs locked around Alex's waist, Piper gave a husky moan as Alex's teeth grazed her breasts - simultaneously ripping the buttons off of her stereotype-fulfilling-plaid shirt - and Alex gave a small whimper as Piper's lacy black bra was revealed . Piper dipped her head once more to capture Alex's lips, dragging her nails up her back and through bated breaths "Bedroom. Let's take this to the bedroom.". Through a door to their left, Alex threw Piper down onto her bed, unbuttoning the skinnier than skinny jeans that Piper was wearing and removing them before relieving herself of her own clothes. Alex paused, soaking in the stunning creature sprawled on the bed in front of her. _Dear god. Piper fucking Chapman, after all this time._ Alex trailed kisses up Piper's inner thighs, dragging her nails across Piper's toned stomach, playing with her nipples as Piper laced her fingers in Alex's hair. "Fuck Alex!" Piper groaned as her need for release built and Alex teased her slowly. Alex was savouring every moment, committing each to memory, every shudder of Piper's body, every caress of her skin, every bite, every graze of teeth, every bead of sweat and finally what Piper needed most. Alex dragged her tongue slowly through Piper's folds eliciting the most heavenly sound Alex was sure she would ever hear. She swallowed every essence of Piper, who tasted fucking amazing - the flavour of an adrenaline rush or the joy on christmas morning or the feeling during the "Surprise" at your birthday party. Suddenly it wasn't enough, Piper needed her now and Alex wanted nothing more than to pull Piper crashing, tumbling over the edge fast and furiously. She sucked at her clit pushing two fingers knuckle deep into Piper's begging entrance, curling them, hitting her sweet spot repeatedly and relentlessly, until Piper's hips were bucking, her whole body shuddering, her back arching off of the bed, her hands clasped in her hair, screaming Alex's name. Alex's lips found hers as her moans continued only further fierce and pleading, "Don't stop baby, don't stop.". Alex curled her fingers once more feeling Piper's walls clench around her, she met her eyes as Piper road out her orgasm - which was enough to send Alex spiralling over the edge into her own orgasm as they cried our each other's names gripping fiercely and desperately to one another before collapsing in a sweaty, intoxicated state, meeting sleep with contentment.

* * *

 _Shit._ She ached in the best way imaginable getting mildly turned on as the previous night came flooding back to her. Piper rolled over to find Alex missing but her side of the bed ruffled and still warm, she wasn't surprised to find a smile on her face as a the same feeling of contentment she had fallen asleep with washed over her again. Alex nudged the door open with her foot and entered carrying a mug in each hand, "I hope you haven't changed your coffee order in the last ten years, I made it how I remembered you having it." Alex offered her a mug with a grin. Piper smiled and without thinking reached out to take it with her left hand. Alex saw it with the crushing force of the car that had thrown them continents apart in the first place, she swallowed, she had seen it coming. "You're engaged?" The joy in both of them dissipating mildly, "Who is she?" Alex asked the question without judgement but with resigned curiosity. " **He** …is Larry. Polly's husband's friend, Larry." Alex climbed back into bed with her mug and crossed her leg; Piper acknowledged silently that she looked really fucking sexy with morning after hair, a hoodie and gym shorts on. "Okay, firstly - He? What sort of a lesbian are you?" She asked with a humour Piper loved her for, she winked, "The boob touching kind?" Alex snorted into her coffee. "Yes, well, you are very good at that." She winked at her from behind her black square frames, "So Polly got married?" Piper gave a small smile, _of course Alex would focus on everything but what she wants to ask about first. Alex Vause; endlessly selfless._ She knew she was doing it to make the situation less painful for her, she was immensely grateful for Alex's kind nature. "Well, not so much, Polly got pregnant; the first semester of college. Pete was raised well, y'know, traditional family. So they got married, Finn will be ten in December." Alex took a moment to process the news. _Jeez, she'd missed a helluva lot._ "Wow! That's amazing!" Piper smiled. Alex cleared her throat slightly and sipper her coffee. "So…Larry?" Piper sipped her coffee - perfect as it had always been. "I couldn't wait for you forever Al…I didn't know if you were even coming back. Larry asked me out of a date about two years ago and I - I hadn't dated since you - I couldn't - I only went to appease Polly and Nikki really, but he's nice. He asked me to marry him a couple of months ago, I'm 28 Al, I want to have a family at some point, y'know? I said yes." Alex nodded, she was a good listener. "But you still came home with me Pipes?" Piper nodded and gave a small smile. "I did, and I would do it again." Alex leant forward and placed a kiss gently on her forehead. "What happened Alex? Where've you been for a decade? Why come back now?" Alex swallowed nervously again, she leant back against the head boarding indicated the crook of her arm for Piper. When Piper was curled up, pressed against her side, Alex took a deep breath. "I'll tell you everything. From the moment I woke up to seeing you across that living room yesterday if you want to hear it." Piper tipped her head up and pressed a kiss softly onto Alex's cheek. "Tell me." She whispered and Alex nodded. _Deep breath. Here it goes._ "So we were in the car crash and then time had moved and I woke up in a different place, a different month…"

 ** _To be continued…_**

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 **Thank you for your continued support! Reviews, follows, favourites and PM's are all massively welcomed and encouraged!**

 **Until next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**So this chapter was a lot of fun to write, I hope that it answers some of the questions you might have. Suggestions, reviews, favourites and follows are all expertly encouraging! Enjoy.**

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 ** _Approximately 11 years previous…_**

 _The room was filled with the soft hum of machines, the steady pulse of her heart amplified, she kept her eyes shut, holding onto sleep for as long as she could. "It's a miracle." This voice unfamiliar, Alex listened as she continued. "They told me not to get attached when they bought her in you know? They thought she was a goner for sure, but I said nope. No, this one's a fighter. She shouldn't have survived that trauma, but here she is. Shame about the driver but that's what happens when you get high and steal a car I suppose." Alex swallowed. The driver who'd hit them had died? That could have just as easily been her. How long had she been out? Why did she have the funniest sense that she'd spoken to Figeroua? Slowly, she opened her eyes, not realising it was the first time in a month. "Alex baby, you're okay, you're okay." Her mom burst into floods of tears. She tried to speak but all that came out was a strange hoarse groan. Her mom handed her a glass of water. "Little sips sweetie." Alex drank the whole glass. "How long has it been? Is Piper okay?" Her mom exchanged a glance with the red haired nurse that stood a respectful distance away. "You've been in a coma for a month Alex, Piper was a bit battered and bruised but she's alright now, casts are comin' off real soon." That's when the first one hit. A wave of nausea followed by followed by tears followed by hyperventilating as the memory swept over her;_ ** _out of the corner of her eye she can see her coming, see her spinning out of control, powerless to change their trajectory now. Fuck, the pain, the searing pain as she was flung through the air. The tarmac rushing towards her. The multiple crunches her body made before she passed out. The way Piper was flung like a rag doll through the air beside her. The dull thud her petite eighteen year old frame made as it crashed and skip across the road._** _Alex pulled in a rattling breath, deep and long, gasping for air as her mother met her eyes. "It's okay Alex, breath, breath. It's just a panic attack. You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay."_

"They got more and more frequent and I couldn't do anything to fight them. Every time I heard her name, every time they told me it wasn't my fault, every time I passed that junction. And I didn't tell you, I couldn't. You had spent so much time worrying about me- no -you had **lost** so much time worrying about me. So I started seeing this therapist…"

 _Alex sat in the office which looked like it had been left behind when the seventies ended. Her therapist was nice, professional, a good listener who nodded in all the right places and asked all the right questions by profession she supposed. "Alex, have you considered that maybe the thing holding you back is being here? Being at home? I'd like to suggest a fresh start for you Alex, get away, if you can, a clean slate, a new place, new memories. I think it would do you the world of good." Alex couldn't help but agree. "I've been waiting hoping that when I start at Harvard everything will get better but I think you're right, I think I need to get away, away away, I'm going to speak to admission at Oxford University, in England. I have the GPA to get in there it's whether I'm too late." Her therapist nodded. "That's a big decision, think about it Alex. I think it's a good idea, but think about it."._

"I would've come with you, you know I would've left in a heart beat" Piper looked into Alex's eyes and Alex saw the sincerity she knew would be there. "I know, I know you would've dropped it all. And I couldn't do that to you, I couldn't ask that of you. You'd dreamed about going to Smith your whole life and I couldn't take that away from you, it would've turned our love into resent, maybe not straight away but some day." Piper sighed as Alex drew circles on the back of her hand with her thumb. "You're right. So you didn't actually think I was cheating on you did you? You were just trying to make me hate you so I wouldn't miss you so much and it wouldn't hurt when you left and didn't come back?" Alex nodded. "So what happened in England?" Alex gave her hand a light squeeze. "So term started…"

 ** _September (Approximately 11 years ago)_**

 _Alex left everything behind, Piper, her family, Nicki, it was a completely fresh start and it was so fucking hard. She moved to Oxford two weeks before freshers started, a small flat in the centre of the city above a coffee shop. It was homely; snug and filled with books and most importantly it was hers. Slowly but surely the pain started to fade. By Christmas, Alex was used to her routine; an hour long run around the city still cloaked in darkness on winter mornings, coffee and crumpets (the English did their breakfast foods well) from down stairs, a shower before grabbing her books and heading to class. Business classes and a few hours in the library completing assignments and then she lead the conversation classes for Italian, French and Spanish, for the language societies. Mostly, she thought the people thought too much of themselves but she had managed to find three people she had genuinely come to like. She had friends who didn't require her presence all the time, who acknowledged that her life before was private and she wasn't yet prepared to share it; they never pried and accepted her into their ranks as and when she pleased. Lorna was petite with a mild addiction to internet shopping with her mind less on her classes and more on the cute boys in them; John was the basic build of a jock, Alex thought he would've excelled in football back home, despite the brawny look of him, John was a business major and sweeter than sweet at the core; John's girlfriend Daya came from a family with rich Spanish heritage - whilst her upbringing generally had done her no favours, she took her Spanish degree with ease. The four of them were an odd group to see together, Lorna miniature between John and Alex, Daya not caring either way, Alex rebellious in comparison to the others with her scars and tattoos. John and Daya, a strange couple to behold merely because they were so different, John so formal and neat next to Daya, so laid back and scruffy. And that was life, Alex excelled in her classes and made her way steadily through a string of British girls she didn't care about. Everything was casual, sex became exercise, she never felt anything. Three years later she came out with a first in business. And then she thought about going home. Apart from a christmas card each year, a birthday card and a brief call on each birthday, Alex had lost touch with her family, and with everyone else, Alex had insured that there had been no contact all. It was too hard, and it would be all too easy to draw her back into that life, into that world again._

"So what did you do after uni?" Piper trailed kisses up her jaw. Alex gave a small smile.

 ** _Some time after uni…_**

 _So she stayed away, anyone who mattered, and she knew in honesty that meant Piper, wasn't even close to finishing college yet and so she used her degree to do what it was for. She had always been an enthusiast for coffee, and utilising that love, by 23, Alex was running her own coffee chain in England. CEO of a successful business with no real recollection of the climb to success, Alex moved herself and her head quarters to Brighton, England. So rarely had she seen the ocean in her childhood and teen years she treasured her run along the promenade each morning. She bought a dog. As she rapidly approached 30 she was happy with life, busy but each day enjoying the problems and hiccups in business as they came, challenges to be overcome. Alex was successful and ever more attractive with her fitness regime and a whole new collection of tattoos, and yet, she couldn't help but feel alone. And then a miracle, a chance meeting. The boom of an american voice. A familiar voice. "Babe you have to trust me, your parents are going to love me." Another familiar voice. "I'm sure they will darling, I'm just nervous, they're italian, they're very particular about people, just six hours to go! Oh my god, Al!" Lorna Morello came running to the counter, Alex grinned, "How the fuck are you short stack?" Lorna smiled. "I'm so good! You have to meet my girlfriend, you'll love her, she's american like you, you stinky yank." She winked and pulled on the sleeve of a woman browsing the sandwiches. "This is-" Lorna began but Alex and Nicky in sync finished it for her "-Nicky Nichols." "Alex Vause." Alex ran around the counter as Nicky crashed into her with the fiercest of hugs. "Oh my god kiddo." Alex was hit by a rush of emotions. They broke out of their hug and Nicky took Alex in. And then punched her in the face. Lorna looked on in dismay whilst a few of her regular customers stood to come to her defence but she waved them away. "I deserved that." Nicky grinned. "Too fucking right you did." Alex grinned back at her. "So you're working in a coffee shop?" Alex gave a small shrug, "Sort of. Hey Poussey, do you think you'll be okay to watch the store for a bit?" Alex asked the girl clearing tables at the front of the store. Poussey rolled her eyes "That's what you pay me for boss." Alex laughed. "Thank you Washington, your sarcasm is duly noted." Alex turned back around to Nicky and Lorna, taking off her apron "Guys, grab whatever you want from the fridge for lunch and we'll head to mine."_

"Wait you went to university with Nicky's wife?! It didn't even occur to me that it could be the same Lorna! So wait you must've been at their wedding, they got married in England right? So Lorna's parents could be there?" Piper felt like she'd just read the last chapter of a book. Alex nodded, "It was a beautiful ceremony, my company catered it, but you won't find me in any of the photos on facebook." Piper nodded. "So are you the mysterious relative that paid for that fancy month long honeymoon?" Alex laughed, "Damn, yes that was me. I confess." Alex watched as all the pieces of the puzzle fit together in Piper's head. "She told you I was getting married. That's why you're back?" Alex laced her fingers through Piper's, "Not exactly, she said you were in trouble and if I didn't come back now you would be lost to me forever." Piper's heart sunk a bit, acknowledging that Nicky could be right. She gave a small smile. "Tell me what's happened in your life since I left it?" Piper swallowed hard, squashing down all the emotions that had been bought to the surface by Alex's revelation.

"Well…"

 ** _To be continued..._**

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 **So next is Piper's history, what do you think she's been up to whilst Alex's been away?**

 **Reviews, suggestions, favourites, follows are all very welcome! My PM is always open for prompts and suggestions!**

 **Thank you again for your continued support.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, sorry it's been so long! I've had two months of exams and then I needed to focus on those! So here it is! Piper's past! Let me know what you think! The reviews, favourites and follows have been much appreciated and so encouraging!**

 **Enjoy!**

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 ** _New Years (Approximately 11 years ago…)_**

 _"_ _No Mom, I don't know what to tell you, it's not going well. Mom, I'm not trying to upset you, I'm sorry. I just, I think I need to figure out what to do." Piper went over the conversation she had had with her Mom before she'd got back in the car to come back to campus, recalling the disappointment on her mother's face. Piper had found college to be significantly more stressful than she could imagine. She'd come into it with the wrong mindset; a habitual drinking habit forming since her girlfriend - no,_ _ex-girlfriend_ _\- left the country without so much as a good bye. The last year had been intense; chaotic, wonderful and stressful all at the same time. And now…it was coming to an end. She was sitting in the corner of the party remaining in precisely the same position that she had fallen after sliding down the wall, knees clutched to her chest, bottle in hand, feeling the celebration go on around her and having absolutely no idea what to do with her life - the eternal bane of the student she supposed. Suddenly, as if by magic something happened that caused her heart to flutter back to life, a solitary beat after months of painful quiet. "Hey, I'm Stella." The Australian slid down the wall, knees clutched to her chest replicating Piper's figure. "How's the party looking from down here?" Piper laughed. A laugh, a real laugh, she was surprising herself. Stella was gorgeous, tanned and tattooed in pretty much every available space it would seem; her hair was shaved on the back and sides, longer on the top, the sort of length you wanted to lace your fingers through whilst you made out; a cheeky grin and eyes that Piper could merrily look into as she moaned- she was getting carried away. "It's looking swell, but shouldn't you be finding someone in preparation of the ball drop?" Stella grinned, "I'm with the most beautiful girl at the party right now, so I think I'll stay here." Piper felt herself blush, one minute to the countdown someone had shouted over the music and noise. "I would have to argue that that would be you I'm afraid, the most beautiful I mean" They smiled at one another and in that moment it was a cliché, it was that scene in that teen movie where the room slows down, the lights brighten just enough to see the glow on one another's faces, the music fades to the background and *Ding!* something clicks._

 _"_ _10._

 _9._

 _8._

 _7._

 _6._

 _5._

 _4._

 _3._

 _2."_

 _And kiss._

 _Let it shatter your world and be reborn in the ashes of the fiery zest and tingling sensation she leaves on your lips; go fiercely into the night, the warrior charging full speed into battle; your tongue as your sword clashing with her own; the firework exploding to call the new year to order in her stomach and her chest; the acrobat drawing the gasps of the crowd as you hurtle toward the ground, be the rush she feels, be the suspense, be the action._

 ** _And break._**

 _Leave her wanting you. Wanting more. The dramatic exit in the teen romance…so she knows how good your ass looks in those jeans._

"And that's how I met Stella Carlin. She changed everything." Alex squeezed her hand supportively. "Go on." Piper looked at her and frowned. "Are you sure you want to hear this?" Alex nodded. "Absolutely, don't leave anything out."

 ** _Approximately 10 years ago…_**

 _So she dropped out and they lived the gap year life. Almost as typical as any other gap year, they travelled; tanned skin and skinny dipping, late nights and later mornings, to Piper's surprise even a few tattoos. They went from Massachusetts to Thailand, Thailand to Indonesia, Indonesia to New Zealand, staying in each place until they had had enough of that particular regions variety of sun and blue waters, until they'd grown bored of the people or the hotel room or the local cuisine. They had no responsibilities, no reason to go home. Stella ultimately, showed Piper the world, one sordid act at a time. In each place Piper had never thought of how Stella could afford the lifestyle they were leading, she followed unquestioningly into a life of drugs and sex. A bad decision always closely followed by a high and another bad decision. And then all of a sudden - incoming: reality check._

"So yeah, basically, it turned out that she was lining my suitcase - and hers - with drugs. I was a drug mule and I didn't even know it." Alex looked at her stunned, "Are you shitting me?" Piper laughed. "Looking back on it, it makes me laugh, it explains a lot but at the time I didn't care, I didn't want to care. In a way, I'm relieved she did it, if she hadn't then I don't think I'd have woken up out of that daydream." Piper gave a small laugh. "It'll probably come back to haunt me ahaha, you'll find me in cell block H, all 'It was one time ten years ago!'" Alex laughed with her, enjoying the sound of Piper's laughter, she had missed it. "So you'll be carted off anytime now then." She winked at the blonde and Piper laughed, "God, I hope not!" Alex pulled her closer into her arms. "They'll have to get through me first! What happened after that then?"

 ** _Sometime in the last 10 years…_**

 _Piper's second try at college was significantly more successful than her first it had to be said. She went back to Smith and she got her English major. And then as rare as a unicorn in a Subway restaurant, she got a book deal immediately after college. "Orange is the New Black" A 'what-if ?' novel, what could have happened, she supposed, if she hadn't caught Stella out when she did. And then she couldn't meet the deadline, her advance already spent and her commitment and enthusiasm for the book had died. She finished it half heartedly two months after her publisher's deadline having battled through the writer's block to produce…something. It could've been a best seller. It wasn't, but it could've been. So there she was; 24, with a flop of a book, a degree that apparently could do very little to get her a job she even remotely enjoyed, single and lonelier than she thought she'd ever been before. Which was when Polly had the greatest idea, a mother and a wife, her life so much more secure than Piper's, and now she could be and have all that as well as being a business owner. Enter to the world; PoPi, a soap store, supplying organic hand crafted soaps for bathroom indulgence, bath bombs and bits. The idea was theirs to take the world by storm with. So they set up shop, creating unique scents and products in the kitchen and shipping them off by the box load. Soon they were swamped in meetings with retailers who showed potential interest in their unique vibe. Evidently it wasn't meant to be…soon chains of a bigger and more advanced bath/cosmetic store opened, arrived from the UK like an unwelcome blast of reality and cold harsh truth - the business collapsed and whilst Polly had Pete and the kids to go back to, Piper had nothing._

 ** _Approximately two years ago…_**

 _"_ _Piper, you can't hold on for Alex Fucking Vause forever. When was the last time she even sent a fucking christmas card? She doesn't care about you, in the nicest fucking way Pipes, it's been almost a decade. Don't you think if she was coming back she would've done it by now?" Polly was pacing. Nicki stood in the corner her arms crossed watching the scene unfold. Piper sat on the edge of the bed, clad only in underwear, her top and skinny jeans laid out on the bed, her heels by the door. She had a glass in her hand - her third since Nicki had arrived - "I just don't want to go, it's not about Alex." She said it defiantly, "It's about_ ** _me! I_** _don't want to go." Polly rolled her eyes. "Look worst comes to worst, Pete, Finn and I are leaving for my Mom's as soon as you get your arse out of here, if everything goes to shit, text me and I'll ring you and tell you my apartment is on fire or something and you can go round there and crash okay?" Piper gave a small sigh and started pulling on her jeans, "Fine." Polly clapped sarcastically "Finally!" Piper looked over at Nicky, she'd only been home from a brief trip to England for a few days and she was heading back out in a few more. "Nicky, you're being uncharacteristically quiet?" She waved a dismissive hand at Piper, "Jet lag. Polly's right. Time to move on."_

"I guess she must have just seen you, amirite?" Alex gave a small nod, "She told me when she came back, we had a long, _long_ conversation about her trip but go on." Piper swallowed.

 _Nicky nodded, twice, as though to reinforce her point but she didn't look Piper in the eye, Piper dismissed it and finished getting ready. She already knew how this date was going to go, - Hi, I'm Piper, Polly's friend. Yes, Pete's told me all about you. No, no, I'm not still gay. No, I don't still smuggle drugs. Oh you've heard of my book. Blah, blah, blah._ She could already feel the disinterest for this guy creeping in. "Tell me about him again?" Polly grinned, "His name is James, he's a doctor…" Piper tuned out.

 _*Three hours later*_

 _Piper let herself into Polly and Pete's flat. Not only had the date been a complete waste of time, she had been bitten. Not by her date, which would've been absolutely horrific and so only added to the tone of the evening but by a dog - just after her date told her that she would have to grab the check because he had left his wallet at home. The whole thing was an eye-roll and shudder inducing memory she was rapidly trying to repress. She shoved the door behind her, feeling the alcohol she had been knocking back to make the conversation bearable -along with the three glasses of wine she'd had before she went out - when she heard a voice. Greaaaat, she thought with an eye-roll, tonight of all nights someone decides to burgle Polly and Pete's place. "Hello?" The currently detached voice called again. She stepped around the door confused to find a man in cargo shorts and a shirt-t-shirt combo eating chips on the couch. "This is Polly and Pete's place, right?" How drunk was she? She thought it was plausible that she might've let herself into the neighbours flat, but she didn't think so. "Yeah." The guy looked almost as confused as she had felt._

 _"_ _Are you a burglar?" Her tone was flat and unamused. "Um, no - no, no, I'm uh, I'm Larry, I live next door, they asked me to water their plants while they're on vacation." He was nervous, stumbling over his words in an attempt to explain himself. "They have air conditioning and cable so…" He shrugged. Piper gave a small nod, her brain still trying to catch up in it's inebriated state. "I'm Piper, Polly's friend." Larry nodded. "I'm sorry are you supposed to be staying here or something?" It had suddenly occurred to him that it might be he who was intruding on this scene and not the slightly tipsy, leggy blonde who had just stumbled through the door. Piper shook her head slowly, "No, no. I have keys, I was just in the neighbourhood, I actually just got bit by a dog."_

"And he looked after me, he fussed about me getting a tetanus shot, he bought me chinese food, he checked out my but when he thought I wasn't looking. Larry was the best thing that had happened to me in a long time Al. He let me sober up and we just stayed up all night, him making these goofy jokes and me rolling my eyes at him. It was great. And looking back on it, Polly and Pete were probably betting on me to end up back at theirs and hang out with Larry." Alex nodded thoughtfully. "Tell me about him." Piper took a deep breath, she hadn't really accounted for this conversation ever occurring between her and Alex, she supposed they were too far gone to stop now. "He's Jewish, a freelance writer, - a good one too -, his parents are great, his Dad is a lawyer and his Mom is probably about the most friendly person you could meet, he kind of looks like that guy from American Pie and he has the willpower of a chimp, he's sweet and his reliable and he's kind." Alex pressed a kiss to the top of Piper's forehead. "Then there's really somewhere you ought to be my beautiful Pipes. Go be with your guy." Piper squeezed Alex around the middle, nestling her face into her chest. "I don't want to let you go again." Alex squeezed her back, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. "Time to go home Pipes. It's time to go home."

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 **Stay tuned for what happens next! Update very soon hopefully! Also Season 4, GUYS, what's up with that?! Okay! Reviews, Favourites and Follows and I'll see you next time! 3**


	13. Chapter 13

**It's been an experience! Thank you and enjoy.**

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 ***One year later***

It had been a long day of meetings with suppliers and of more figures than was reasonable for one person in one day. Alex felt worn out, tired and more than ready to have a nice relaxing evening. As she rode her motorbike home she thought of the bottle of wine and the bubble bath that were awaiting her. She rode the elevator to her apartment whistling merrily, happy that it was the weekend despite the exhaustion she felt.

Though her apartment was distinctly hers, cozy and homely in it's own way, she could never shake the emptiness it seemed to hold regardless of how many things she crammed into it. _Maybe it's time to buy a dog,_ she thought to herself as she dropped her keys into the bowl and pushed the door shut behind her. _Then,_ she thought optimistically, _she wouldn't be greeted by silence when she came home from work every day. I could run with it and play fetch and teach it loads of cool tricks…_ She entertained herself with the idea of getting a dog for some time whilst she pottered around the apartment doing things. She removed the cork from her bottle of wine and was in the process of retrieving a wine glass when the phone rang.

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"Oh my god, Alex, you life saver! Our reservations are in twenty minutes and we've been on the waiting list for months. This means the world." Alex rolled her eyes at Lorna and hugged her. "You know I love baby sitting _and_ that I know the chef, you can have dinner there whenever you want." Nicky entered the hallway and kissed her wife on her cheek placing their daughter in Alex's arms. "The baby sitter is running late, she'll be here within an hour and then you can go if you want to, I'd say I'm sorry but I'm really not." She winked at Alex and placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Mommy loves you, you adorable sack of chub." It was Lorna's turn to roll her eyes. "Ignore your mother. See you soon Alex." She ruffled her daughters hair and they were out the door. Alex looked down at her god-daughter. Her god-daughter looked up at her. "Come on Laura-Looooo!" She crossed her eyes and poked her tongue out at her eliciting a small giggle from the two year old. She kissed her nose and span her around before resting her on her hip again. "Beauty and the beast?!" Another giggle signalled that her idea was a good one.

*An hour later*

" _We'll be human again, we'll be human again…_ " Laura had long since fallen asleep but Alex was happy to admit she wasn't watching this for the small person curled up on the sofa next to her. She sang quietly along, loving every moment, until the door bell rang. "Pizzaaaaa!" She had completely forgotten about the baby sitter that was supposedly coming. She opened the door mid cheer.

Not Pizza.

But instead looking up into her eyes with a small suitcase by her side, a ringless ring finger;

Piper Chapman.

"Al."

They grinned at each other.

"Pipes."

THE END.

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 **There is the potential for a sequel if people wanted it but I'll leave that to you guys!**

 **Reviews are welcomed and encouraged!**

 **Thank you for your support xx**


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